The Hidden Physics Equations in Bowling with Neil deGrasse Tyson _ Dr. Dave Alciatore

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This is StarTalk Sports Edition. Neil deGrasse Tyson, your personal
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astrophysicist and sports enthusiast. But I'm not enough to hold
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this show. I need my co-host, Gary, former professional footballer
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in the UK.
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Hi, Neil.
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Welcome back to the show, dude.
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Thank you.
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Yeah. And how long have you been in the United States?
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Depends who you ask. I think the range is from
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too long.
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The real question is, how long have you been here legally?
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I have always been here legally, so that's the good news.
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And that other voice popped up, Chuck Nice. Always good
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to have you, man.
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Always good to be here. I just want to say.
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I was delighted to host your family for the weekend,
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and when we did, one early morning, you asked me
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for a jump rope. You went over to the side,
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and you worked out with a jump rope, and I
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was so impressed by that. only to then realize you
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never really did any sports your whole life.
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Yes, however, double dutch is a sport.
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Is that in the Olympics? We're going to see that
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in Paris.
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Yeah, I think double dutch requires three people. Chuck, you
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can't double dutch with yourself.
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That's how good I am.
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So Gary, what do you have in store for us today?
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Okay, this would be interesting, if not fascinating, 10-pin bowling.
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They say, right, but bowling... To get a perfect game
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means you score over 300. You said 10-pin. That's just
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regular bowling, right? That's 10-pin bowling as opposed to crown
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green bowling, which is done on grass and all the
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other varieties.
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Lawn bowling.
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There you go.
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So if you have an average over 200, it's considered
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as an accurate indicator of a misspent use. It's also
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… It's also an indicator that this person may well
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understand more physics than you think. Imagine, right? You're there
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on the lane with a ball in hand. You're discussing
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Euler's equations of motion whilst chewing the fat about radius
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of gyration, or whilst wearing some dang ugly shoes that
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don't fit too good. And it's actually said, Chuck, and
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you'll love this, if you learn to read the oil
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patterns in the lane correctly, you could find yourself with
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the cheat codes for a perfect game. And we must
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get into how that can work out for us.
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I love it.
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Yeah.
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I mean, I haven't played. I haven't bowled in many,
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many years, primarily because it's become a place where yuppies
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go to drink. It used to be, you know, like
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I used to be in a league Saturday morning. You
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went out, you bowled.
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It was great.
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Now you can't get a lane because it's a bunch
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of yuppies sitting around day drinking.
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Well, is yuppie still even a word? Oh, they're still around.
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I know they still exist, but is it a word? No,
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you're right.
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No, you're right.
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You're right.
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No, Neil, you're right. They're not yuppies anymore. They're hipsters.
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Oh, okay. Yeah, I'm sorry. I got it.
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Yeah, they're hipsters.
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Okay, so Gary, who do you have who possibly has
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this kind of expertise?
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Well, surprisingly enough, he's a guest who's been on before.
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We knew him as, yes, Dr. Dave, the pool hustler.
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He's going to return today as Dr. Dave, Lord of
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the Lanes, because he has some serious chops. He's bowled
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a perfect game. He still has an average over 200.
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And you know what?
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Even I could work out he was the guy to
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talk to.
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Okay.
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Dave, welcome back to Star Talk. Thanks, Neil.
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It's great to be back.
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Oh, my gosh. I love the quote, Dr. Dave. I
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love that. It's affectionate. It's more affectionate than just Dave.
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You know, Dr. Dave. So you recently retired professor emeritus.
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You don't look that old at Colorado State University. Got
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your Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at UT Austin. And I
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met my wife at UT Austin, by the way, the
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woman who would become my wife. And you've got your
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own YouTube channel and Facebook page dedicated to pool. We
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knew that, but also to billiards. So you're the man.
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You're the man. And so let me ask you, in
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your misspent childhood, how did bowling become part of this
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as well?
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Well, my early life dream was to be the Dr.
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Dave of bowling instead of the Dr. Dave of fool. Oh, really? Yeah,
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I basically grew up in a bowling alley. My mom
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worked at a bowling alley. Luckily, that bowling alley also
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had a pool hall in it. So it was just bliss,
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heavenly bliss for me, even as a child.
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So which are you better at?
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I'm probably, people probably can see me a little bit
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better in the billiards, but I'm a strong bowler as well.
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What constitutes a strong bowler? I mean, it would have
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to come down to the numbers of your average.
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Yeah, of course.
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What is the average that creates a strong bowler?
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Anything over 200, like Gary mentioned, is considered strong. But,
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you know, I've averaged close to 220. I'm averaging about
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220 right now. Partly because I got a brand new
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bowling ball, which we're going to talk about later. That's
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something that boosts my average.
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Right on, right on. Oh, man, that means you got
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the fingers drilled for yourself. That's a good feeling. You
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take the ball and it's just a big ball. It's
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a sphere. And you got to go in and they
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drill the holes just for you.
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So, Dave, in my... engineering physics classes, I remember learning
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all about Euler angles and the geometry of a rotating
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coordinate system. And my notes here tell me that Euler,
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Euler is a famous British mathematician from a century gone by,
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that you somehow invoke Euler equations to bowl a 300.
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You've got to get me on that same page here, please.
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That is awesome.
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Honestly, I don't use the math when I bowl, but
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the math does affect the physics on the lane. The
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Euler's equations, Euler did many things, but one thing he
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contributed to dynamics is the Euler's equations of motion that
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describe gyroscopic effects. And these new bowling balls take advantage
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of these gyroscopic effects.
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Wow.
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And I'm going to be very honest because I don't
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care when I look ignorant because it happens all of
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the time. I thought the Euler lanes were... the greasy
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spots on the floor. I actually thought maybe there were
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slick spots on the lane itself.
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Okay, this is spelled E-U-L-E-R, Euler.
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I had no idea.
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Or maybe Euler was the first guy that oiled the lane,
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so they called him the Euler.
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Right, exactly.
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So it's Euler, E-U-L-E-R, okay.
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Yes. So here's an interesting observation, and then I'll pass
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over to... Because Gary is going to drill you for
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the whole hour we got here. So what I remembered
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most about the Euler equations in my sort of engineering
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physics was normally when we think of something rotating, we
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think of only one axis. And so Earth is rotating
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or a top is rotating that is spinning. But if
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you have rotation in more than one axis simultaneously, then
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interesting things happen.
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Right?
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So here's the ball trying to roll down the lane.
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And so that's an axis of rotation. It's rolling, but
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then you put a little spin on it, on top
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of the rolling that's happening. And so the ball doesn't
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go in a straight line, it curves. So are you
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telling me you thought all this out and you, and really, really?
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And it's not just practice?
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Well, to play the game well, it's all about practice. But,
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you know, good bowlers take advantage of the oil patterns,
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which we can talk about. And the ball manufacturers take
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advantage of these gyroscopic effects. So if you had a
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homogeneous ball, a solid sphere, it has holes in it,
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but let's forget that for now. And you spin it
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and you throw it down the lane, it's going to
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spin on the same circumference the whole way down the lane.
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And this is actually directly from billiards. When we looked
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at the Massey shot, a Massey shot in billiards is
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the same as a curveball in bowling.
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All right.
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Now, if the ball is a sphere, a solid sphere,
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when it's trying to curve, it's spinning. And Coriolis figured
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out that the direction of the friction does not change
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during the curve. Same thing on a pool table. So
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what that suggests is that a stripe of oil is
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going to build up on that ball along one circumference.
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You get a circle of oil building up on the
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ball as it's traveling down the lane. Now, that's bad
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because the oil is slick.
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So he is literally talking about oil, Chuck.
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There is oil on the lines. It's actually a petroleum product.
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It's not crude oil, it's actually mineral oil based, but
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it's a very, very clean looking oil, but it's slick.
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So Chuck, you were even wrong in your ignorance. That's
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pretty bad. Yeah, well, you know.
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What can I say?
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This is where I'm a Viking.
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This is where I'm a.
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Viking, Neil.
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You gotta be good at something, even if it's good
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at being wrong.
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So, I mean, we've got multiple axis of rotation And
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that's all happening. But to drive this, apart from the
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bowl of themselves, you've got a weight block inside. Now,
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they come in A, different shapes, and they're not all asymmetrical.
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They're offset as well.
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Aren't they? Yes.
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So how is that then impacting on these Euler's equations
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of motion and how the ball.
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Does its thing? That's the critical piece here. So again,
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if you have that solid ball that doesn't have this
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weight block in it, It builds up to stripe of oil.
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Now the oil is not consistent over the whole length
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of the lane. They put most of the oil in
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the first two thirds of the lane. The last third
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is mostly dry. It has a little bit of oil.
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That's where most of the curve occurs in the last
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third of the lane. But if the ball is picking
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up oil the whole way down the lane, it's going
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to slide more during that curve section. All right. So
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these weight blocks, it's asymmetric. As Neil's pointed out, if
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you have a ball, you're spinning at about one axis.
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It's moving down the lane. Friction is creating a torque
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or moment about another axis. That causes this weird wobbling effect.
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The ball actually does this weird wobble thing. You can
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see me on video what I'm doing, but it gives
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you like different circles of oil on the ball. So
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that new ball surface is touching the lane the whole
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way down. So it doesn't build up oil on one stripe.
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And when it hits the It has virgin olive oil.
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It has a virgin oil-free surface to help it curve more.
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So Dave, let me get, if I understand this correctly,
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the first part of the journey of the bowl is
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on oilier surface than the last section. Yes. So where
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it's oily, you're not going to get much friction to
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curve the path. Is that correct? Bingo.
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Okay.
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So I always wondered why, why the ball curve more
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in the last, I've seen this and I never understood why.
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So that's why. It breaks hard. It breaks harder, right?
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Yeah, bowlers call that the back end. You want to
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have a strong back end where it curves hard and
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creates a good entry angle into the pins, which we
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can talk about later also.
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If we've spent enough time and sort of examined bowling
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and come to the conclusion that Euler's equations of motions
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are involved, surely now there has to be an optimal
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speed an optimal angle of approach, because otherwise I'm sticking
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that straight in the gutter. And we've got this configuration
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of pins, this triangular configuration, and we've all seen it.
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It's a 7 and a 10 split where the two
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furthest pins away from each other are left and you've
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got a spare to try and clear them up. So
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how do I get out of that by using a
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bit of science, by thinking, right, there's an optimal speed,
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there's an optimal angle of approach, or am I daydreaming again?
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No, you're right on, right on topic. Let's talk about
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the pin numbering briefly because I'm going to refer to
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them at times. So the pins are in a triangle pattern.
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The head pin, the one in front is called the
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one pin.
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That is so, so surprising.
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All right, then the number, this is surprising too. The
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next row is two and three. Then it goes four, five, six.
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Then it goes seven, eight, nine, 10.
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Good.
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All right, so Gary just mentioned the seven, 10 split.
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That's a bowler's nightmare. You have the far two pins
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in the corners that you leave as a spare. And
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it's pretty much impossible to convert, but it can be made,
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mostly through luck. But let's get back to a strike.
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How does a.
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Bowler give themselves the best chance of getting a strike?
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You might think, throw it right down the middle and
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hit that head pin right in the center. Well, that's
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the worst possible thing you can do. But that's what
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most beginner bowlers try. They try to throw it in
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the middle.
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I think a gutter shot is worse than hitting the front.
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Of all the worst things you could do, I'm thinking
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a gutter shot is worse. But go on. That's right.
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But If you throw it straight, you want it to
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hit off center slightly. That's how you can get a strike.
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But the problem is when it comes in straight, the
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ball deflects off the pins a little too much and
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it doesn't have enough power to drive through the center.
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And you often leave what's called the five pin, the
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one in the middle. Or sometimes you'll leave a 10
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pin on the far corner because the ball's not coming
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in strong enough to send the other pins toward the 10.
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All right, so bowler, they want to come in at
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an exact six degree entry angle. All right, this isn't random.
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Wow.
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There's been extensive testing, extensive testing, lots of simulations.
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Chuck, that was my problem. I was coming in at
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seven degrees the whole time. And I was five and
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a half.
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Neil, that's your problem, man. That's your problem. Seven degrees
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is not six.
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It's not six.
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Oh my gosh.
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Yeah, you were doing seven minute abs instead of six
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minute abs.
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Now you might think a bigger angle is better. Like
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you might think if I can get seven, isn't that
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better than six? Well, at some point it's coming into
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the pins a little too steep and it just kind
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of tunnels through and doesn't, It doesn't spread them as well.
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So people have found this six-degree angle to be kind
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of optimal. It sounds like a small angle, but you
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have to curve it a fair amount because it's only
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curving in that last part of the lane, and the
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lane is really long and skinny. So to get an angle,
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you have to curve it significantly. Yeah.
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And is that the pocket that you always hear them
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talking about?
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For a right-hander, it's called the 1-3 pocket. You're hitting
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the one and three pins first. And it's also called
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the Manhattan side. you don't want to go on the
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00:14:10.779 --> 00:14:12.960
Brooklyn side. That's kind of embarrassing to a good bowler.
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00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:17.759
The term came from, you know, people in Manhattan, they
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have to cross over the bridge to get to Brooklyn.
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So if you cross over the head pin.
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You're hitting the left side. That means you weren't very accurate.
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You're hitting on the Brooklyn side, we call it.
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So is the gutter the Jersey side?
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What's up?
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Tell the truth. What's going on?
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So what if I just get brute force and ignorance
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to start bowling and just barrel one down there. Is it,
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00:14:40.539 --> 00:14:42.179
would it just be simple enough to just say it's
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velocity or are we into spin rates? And, you know,
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00:14:44.929 --> 00:14:46.549
if I want to get this angle of approach and
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we're playing with a lane that isn't uniform from start
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to finish.
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You bring up a good point because that entry angle
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is critical, but the other critical thing is momentum. You know,
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the weight of the ball and the speed of the
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ball both contribute to the, to the, to your pin action,
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how well you, you bust up those pins. So if
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you can throw a heavier ball faster, it's going to help.
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Assuming you can get that angle, which is harder. The
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faster you throw it, the more difficult it is to
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curve it enough to get that angle. But if you
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can spin a lot, so bowlers want a lot of
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rev rate. Good bowlers, top pros, they can spin the
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ball almost 10 revolutions a second. So it's a pretty
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fast spin. So you want to spin them as much
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as you can so you can throw it as fast
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as you can. and still get that six degree entry angle.
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That's the secret sauce of bowling.
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Are you saying that if a person is weaker, they
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have to use a lighter bowling ball and all other
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things being equal, they will not be as successful at
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bowling because they're using a ball with less mass?
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Now, some pros, you know, 16 pounds is the maximum
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allowed weight. And for many years, all pros used 16 pounders,
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but now they're migrating closer to 15. And you might think, well,
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00:16:00.230 --> 00:16:02.669
why are they giving up that free momentum? Well, they
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can throw the 15-pound ball faster. So they can actually get,
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00:16:07.330 --> 00:16:08.289
and they can spin it more.
350
00:16:08.750 --> 00:16:10.850
So it's a trade-off between the kinetic energy of its
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00:16:10.889 --> 00:16:13.879
speed and the momentum you get from its mass, I guess.
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00:16:13.929 --> 00:16:15.259
There's two of those.
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00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:18.100
Well, again, the main thing you want is momentum. You
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want mass or weight, and you want speed. You want both.
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00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:23.720
Here's something that I thought was happening and maybe not,
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00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:24.899
and then we're going to take a quick break, and
357
00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:28.360
we'll come back and pick this up some more. Does
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00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:31.039
the spin, picking up on what Gary said, does the
359
00:16:31.139 --> 00:16:35.580
spin of the ball, other than altering its direction of impact,
360
00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:43.399
does it help knock a pin sideways better rather than
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00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:47.990
bowl it down forward and help to create more sideways action,
362
00:16:48.649 --> 00:16:51.009
helping you get those side pins a little better? Is
363
00:16:51.330 --> 00:16:51.809
that a thing?
364
00:16:53.809 --> 00:16:58.669
Not really, because most bowling shots you have three kind
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00:16:58.710 --> 00:17:01.230
of phases. You have the slide phase, where it's spinning
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00:17:01.269 --> 00:17:03.909
like mad, but sliding through the oil, very little friction.
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00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:07.599
It's curving just a slight amount. Then you have the
368
00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:10.339
curve phase, where the friction is really grabbing and it's
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00:17:10.420 --> 00:17:13.119
changing the direction of the ball. And during that curve phase,
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00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:15.960
it's actually losing the side spin. And when it's done
371
00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:19.160
with the curve phase, it's actually mostly rolling, mostly rolling
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00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:21.329
in a straight line at the desired angle at the end.
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So it has very little Excess spin left over when
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00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:24.599
it's sitting in place.
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00:17:24.619 --> 00:17:26.660
I forgot that. Of course, if you're spinning it and
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00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:29.339
it's responding to that spin by friction, it's slowing down
377
00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:29.779
that spin.
378
00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:31.339
Of course that's going to happen. Yes.
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00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:33.160
Wow. Okay, guys, we've got to take a quick break.
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00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:36.380
But when we come back, more on how to bowl
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00:17:36.579 --> 00:17:44.450
a 310-pin bowling on StarTalk Sports Edition. We're back. StarTalk
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00:17:44.470 --> 00:17:49.970
Sports Edition. We're talking about bowling. How to be good
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00:17:50.170 --> 00:17:52.960
at bowling. No, how to be perfect at bowling. There
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is such a thing as perfect. Ebola 300. And our
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special guest today, Dr. Dave Alcitor. Did I pronounce your
386
00:18:01.609 --> 00:18:02.609
name correctly, sir?
387
00:18:03.269 --> 00:18:05.990
Right on. For the French side of my family, but
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00:18:06.009 --> 00:18:08.109
the Italian side of my family likes Alcitor.
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00:18:08.369 --> 00:18:11.069
Alcitor. I'd way prefer that, but I don't want to
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offend the French side. Dr. Dave, we've had you on
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00:18:14.029 --> 00:18:17.039
before talking about billiards, and that was a fascinating show,
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00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:19.519
one of my favorites, and only to learn that you
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00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:22.480
have further expertise in Because part of your childhood, you
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00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:25.160
grew up in a pool hall because your mother worked there.
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00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:28.839
That meant you grew up in a billiard hall, which
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00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:33.309
also had pool tables. But that meant you got free games.
397
00:18:33.450 --> 00:18:35.329
That's probably what that meant.
398
00:18:36.410 --> 00:18:37.289
Oh, yeah.
399
00:18:37.509 --> 00:18:42.069
So maybe you're good at bowling because you played for free,
400
00:18:42.569 --> 00:18:46.470
not because you actually studied the equations. Now, fess up. Yeah.
401
00:18:46.809 --> 00:18:48.269
Are you telling me I got a free ride, Neil?
402
00:18:48.470 --> 00:18:51.109
Are you telling me I got a free ride, man?
403
00:18:51.410 --> 00:18:53.829
Confess your privileges here, right? This is what you got
404
00:18:53.869 --> 00:18:56.759
to do. So tell me more. You mentioned this oil
405
00:18:56.940 --> 00:18:59.500
on the– none of us are thinking that there's oil
406
00:18:59.619 --> 00:19:02.119
on the– none of us non-experts are thinking that anyway.
407
00:19:02.460 --> 00:19:04.319
Could you just give us a little more details about
408
00:19:04.900 --> 00:19:06.940
why is there oil there and how you have come
409
00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:07.940
to exploit that fact?
410
00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:10.460
And why don't you guys just get a rag?
411
00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:15.609
Well, there is a form of rag in the automated
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00:19:15.650 --> 00:19:18.269
machine that puts down the oil. This is a computerized
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00:19:18.309 --> 00:19:22.130
machine that puts the oil down in certain patterns. And
414
00:19:22.170 --> 00:19:26.210
it's not always the same pattern. Typically in a league situation,
415
00:19:26.430 --> 00:19:29.410
they give us a fairly easy pattern. An easy pattern
416
00:19:29.430 --> 00:19:31.150
is where most of the oil is in the middle
417
00:19:32.029 --> 00:19:33.750
and then the oil doesn't go down a lane as far.
418
00:19:33.769 --> 00:19:38.670
All right, that's the optimal situation. And one reason is
419
00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:41.309
If you throw the ball across the oil, like from
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00:19:41.329 --> 00:19:43.170
the left, if you're right-handed, you'll start to the left
421
00:19:43.190 --> 00:19:45.190
a little bit. If you throw it across the oil,
422
00:19:45.910 --> 00:19:47.910
it goes out. If you throw it out too far,
423
00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:49.930
it gets to the dry part of the lane sooner.
424
00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:53.019
and then it curves more right if you don't throw
425
00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:55.299
it out far enough it stays in the oil and
426
00:19:55.380 --> 00:19:58.549
slides and that's how you optimize your chances to get
427
00:19:58.589 --> 00:20:01.009
a strike you have strategy based on how the oil
428
00:20:01.029 --> 00:20:02.410
is put down the.
429
00:20:02.369 --> 00:20:05.849
Optimal strategy throw it out you mean the distance between
430
00:20:05.890 --> 00:20:08.829
where you release the ball and where it hits the wood.
431
00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:11.720
Well, that is one variable that some people adjust, but mostly,
432
00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:13.579
I mean, you're throwing it more to the right. If
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00:20:13.619 --> 00:20:16.400
you're right-handed and you throw it more to the right,
434
00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:19.359
it hits the drier part of the lane sooner and
435
00:20:19.380 --> 00:20:21.599
that lets it curve sooner and you can still get
436
00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:23.579
a strike. You throw it too far to the left,
437
00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:26.440
it stays in the oil and doesn't curve as much
438
00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:28.720
and you can still get a strike. So you can
439
00:20:28.740 --> 00:20:31.670
be sometimes, if you have your optimal strategy for the
440
00:20:31.789 --> 00:20:34.549
oil pattern and you're throwing it in the best possible place,
441
00:20:34.970 --> 00:20:37.349
you give yourself the widest margin for error, sometimes as
442
00:20:37.410 --> 00:20:40.059
much as like six inches, six to 10 inches. You
443
00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:41.940
can be off by that much and still get a strike.
444
00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:49.500
And how much does alcohol come into play when making
445
00:20:49.579 --> 00:20:52.089
these calculations mentally?
446
00:20:52.869 --> 00:20:55.789
Well, people tend to get tense. Alcohol is actually a
447
00:20:56.589 --> 00:20:59.210
booster because it helps them relax a little bit. But
448
00:20:59.230 --> 00:21:01.809
that only works to a point. And then there's a
449
00:21:01.829 --> 00:21:04.390
difference between perceived and actual performance, Chuck.
450
00:21:04.609 --> 00:21:06.049
Of course, yeah.
451
00:21:06.089 --> 00:21:08.670
Alcohol makes your perceived performance amazing.
452
00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:10.960
Right.
453
00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:13.460
Clearly you've been to one of my comedy shows.
454
00:21:14.980 --> 00:21:16.640
That's right. So Gary, he's all yours, Gary.
455
00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:20.990
All right. So I have to imagine now I'm bowling,
456
00:21:21.490 --> 00:21:23.710
but the pattern of oil that's been laid down in
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00:21:23.750 --> 00:21:27.730
the lane isn't fixed. It's going to change every time
458
00:21:27.789 --> 00:21:30.710
a bowl goes down it. So now I've got an
459
00:21:30.789 --> 00:21:33.890
organic situation that's changing in front of me. So I
460
00:21:34.289 --> 00:21:36.769
Is it kind of like a major cheat code once
461
00:21:36.829 --> 00:21:40.069
I learn how to read the pattern, read the oil
462
00:21:40.109 --> 00:21:43.759
movement as bowls go down it and then distribute oil
463
00:21:43.779 --> 00:21:45.019
in different places on the lane?
464
00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:48.539
Well, there's three things there, Gary. One is you have
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00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:50.480
to know what the pattern of oil is. They put
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00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:54.200
down different patterns in different lanes or in pro tournaments,
467
00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:56.490
they actually put down a different pattern on each of
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00:21:56.509 --> 00:21:58.509
the two lanes that they're bowling on just to make
469
00:21:58.549 --> 00:22:01.039
it more challenging. And they have, sometimes they use a
470
00:22:01.059 --> 00:22:03.460
totally different ball and sometimes they stand in a totally
471
00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:05.950
different place and throw it with a totally different speed
472
00:22:06.009 --> 00:22:08.529
and direction on each of those two lanes. That's the
473
00:22:08.589 --> 00:22:11.049
ultimate challenge. But again, in a league, they're putting down
474
00:22:11.069 --> 00:22:12.980
pretty much the same pattern for us every week. And,
475
00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:15.230
you know, I've learned to find the optimal way to
476
00:22:15.250 --> 00:22:17.130
throw the ball to give myself the best chance of
477
00:22:17.150 --> 00:22:17.789
getting a high score.
478
00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:20.660
And how many balls, how many balls are you able
479
00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:23.180
to use if you're playing like a real tournament game?
480
00:22:23.539 --> 00:22:26.319
Can you say, okay, for my spares, I'm going to
481
00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:29.759
have a lighter ball or a heavier ball. For my
482
00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:31.960
first throw, I'm going to use a lighter ball. And
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00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:35.140
then I have my second lane ball. I mean, are
484
00:22:35.160 --> 00:22:35.660
there rules?
485
00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:37.740
No, there's no limits on the number of balls you
486
00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:40.220
can use. In fact, a pro, they might have, it
487
00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:42.190
might sound ridiculous, but they might have like 15 to
488
00:22:42.190 --> 00:22:46.450
20 balls available. And they might change balls in the
489
00:22:46.470 --> 00:22:48.910
middle of a match if it's not working out, if
490
00:22:48.950 --> 00:22:52.279
they're reading something in the oil pattern that they didn't anticipate.
491
00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:55.119
So there's no limit on the number of balls. So
492
00:22:55.140 --> 00:22:57.720
imagine carrying a golf ball, a golf bag, a golf
493
00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:59.220
bag full of these bowling balls around.
494
00:23:01.009 --> 00:23:01.569
Wow.
495
00:23:01.970 --> 00:23:05.349
Yeah, but typically most league bowlers, they have like their
496
00:23:05.369 --> 00:23:07.809
strike ball, their curve ball, and they have a spare ball.
497
00:23:08.250 --> 00:23:09.970
Spare ball is usually made out of a hard plastic
498
00:23:09.990 --> 00:23:14.289
that has very little friction, very smooth surface. And the
499
00:23:14.309 --> 00:23:16.289
beauty of that is you can throw it your normal way.
500
00:23:16.549 --> 00:23:18.670
You throw a strike shot, which is your most consistent throw.
501
00:23:19.539 --> 00:23:21.819
And it's spinning like heck, but it just goes straight.
502
00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:23.420
It just doesn't curve.
503
00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.549
It doesn't curve. To get that spare, yes.
504
00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:27.950
So how do you know once you get to the
505
00:23:28.029 --> 00:23:32.329
back end of the lane that you've got certain things
506
00:23:32.410 --> 00:23:35.309
going on with the oil distribution on the surface?
507
00:23:35.910 --> 00:23:36.869
How do you tell?
508
00:23:37.069 --> 00:23:39.410
You're not allowed to walk down there and look at it.
509
00:23:39.509 --> 00:23:41.349
Or can you read it from the way the bowls
510
00:23:41.410 --> 00:23:41.829
are moving?
511
00:23:42.750 --> 00:23:44.910
The last thing, Gary. All right, so let me go back.
512
00:23:44.930 --> 00:23:47.190
So first you have to know what the pattern of
513
00:23:47.210 --> 00:23:49.289
the oil is that they're putting down. Then you have
514
00:23:49.329 --> 00:23:52.869
to know how does that pattern change over time as
515
00:23:52.890 --> 00:23:55.789
you throw balls, because the ball is picking up oil
516
00:23:56.390 --> 00:23:58.230
when it's going down that slick part of the lane.
517
00:23:59.299 --> 00:24:01.519
And that oil is so, so you're actually removing a
518
00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:03.799
little oil from the first part of the lane and
519
00:24:03.819 --> 00:24:05.980
in that it's carrying that oil down. So as the
520
00:24:06.019 --> 00:24:07.980
night goes on, as the games go on and the
521
00:24:08.059 --> 00:24:10.940
oil is getting pushed down the lane and it's getting
522
00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:12.859
pushed in the area that, that your ball is curving.
523
00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:13.700
All right.
524
00:24:13.779 --> 00:24:16.440
So it tends to give you less curve as the
525
00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:18.769
night goes on in that area. All right, so a
526
00:24:18.769 --> 00:24:21.369
good bowler has to adjust. They can't see the oil,
527
00:24:21.470 --> 00:24:24.430
like you pointed out, Gary. They have to adjust based
528
00:24:24.490 --> 00:24:26.890
on the reaction of the ball. So when the ball
529
00:24:26.910 --> 00:24:29.029
is starting to come in light, we say, it's not
530
00:24:29.089 --> 00:24:31.690
curving as much, we would typically move our feet to
531
00:24:31.710 --> 00:24:33.809
the left and aim a little bit to the left.
532
00:24:34.349 --> 00:24:36.609
That way we're hitting fresh oil and we're hitting fresh
533
00:24:36.710 --> 00:24:39.369
dry lane down the last third of the lane.
534
00:24:39.390 --> 00:24:43.059
Man. So you've got to have a lot of experience
535
00:24:43.190 --> 00:24:46.519
to be able to read the oil patterns on the
536
00:24:46.579 --> 00:24:49.140
lane and then have the knowledge to know what will happen.
537
00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:54.980
But you just said they changed the oil patterns as well.
538
00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:56.880
So just to make it interesting.
539
00:24:56.900 --> 00:24:58.579
Not in the middle of a game. They just said
540
00:24:58.599 --> 00:25:00.359
they start with different starter patterns, right?
541
00:25:00.380 --> 00:25:01.960
But I'm saying before the game, do you guys get
542
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:04.960
to throw like, how many practice throws do you get
543
00:25:05.019 --> 00:25:07.980
to throw? Because that's not fair. You're starting a competition
544
00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:10.230
and you don't know what the terrain is.
545
00:25:10.849 --> 00:25:11.250
Exactly.
546
00:25:11.289 --> 00:25:13.289
We have to practice. Even in the league, they give
547
00:25:13.349 --> 00:25:15.210
us five or ten minutes of practice, and that whole
548
00:25:15.230 --> 00:25:18.259
time I'm hunting around. I'm hunting around, adjusting my speed,
549
00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:20.759
adjusting my spin, adjusting my aim point to try to
550
00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:24.039
find that optimal place to throw the ball. So that
551
00:25:24.099 --> 00:25:25.900
is critical in practice. You have to identify that.
552
00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:29.019
To Gary's point, it's not that you can see the
553
00:25:29.160 --> 00:25:33.460
oil at all times as the tournament progresses. You are
554
00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:36.160
reading what is happening to the balls that are thrown
555
00:25:36.180 --> 00:25:41.950
and judging what the oil distribution is in that moment.
556
00:25:42.500 --> 00:25:43.640
from the behavior of the ball.
557
00:25:44.420 --> 00:25:46.980
A good player has to also realize, did that ball
558
00:25:47.019 --> 00:25:48.339
react like it did because I threw it a little
559
00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:50.519
bit too fast? Or because did I get a little
560
00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:51.920
extra finger in it and spin it a little bit
561
00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:54.019
too much? But a good player is aware of all that.
562
00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:56.789
And a good player also has to be accurate enough.
563
00:25:57.609 --> 00:25:59.630
It's no use reading what the ball does unless you
564
00:25:59.650 --> 00:26:01.410
can throw it in the place you're aiming every time.
565
00:26:02.250 --> 00:26:04.210
You got to make the adjustment. And can you learn
566
00:26:04.250 --> 00:26:06.490
something from the way your opponent is throwing the ball?
567
00:26:06.670 --> 00:26:10.930
Oh, definitely. Yes. Yes. Every throw is information.
568
00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:14.059
Cool. Concentration.
569
00:26:14.220 --> 00:26:16.009
It's intense concentration, isn't it?
570
00:26:17.019 --> 00:26:18.779
Oh, you got to, just like any sport, you don't
571
00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:20.509
want to be too intense the whole time. You got
572
00:26:20.529 --> 00:26:23.250
to be focused and you got to pay attention and observe,
573
00:26:23.309 --> 00:26:25.349
but you don't want to be like, you're not super
574
00:26:25.369 --> 00:26:26.589
intense staring the whole time.
575
00:26:27.009 --> 00:26:28.250
Yeah, tell that to Tom Brady.
576
00:26:29.430 --> 00:26:30.069
That's right.
577
00:26:30.470 --> 00:26:33.440
So there's a thing called the curveball strategy, which sounds
578
00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:36.240
like a baseball term, but it's not. It's applied to
579
00:26:36.259 --> 00:26:40.359
10-pin bowling. So is that a successful strategy to cope
580
00:26:40.500 --> 00:26:42.039
with changing oil patterns?
581
00:26:42.259 --> 00:26:44.460
Well, yes, we throw any good bowler throws a curve
582
00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:47.789
ball to get that that optimal six degree entry angle.
583
00:26:48.130 --> 00:26:49.910
That's critical. You have to curve the ball to have
584
00:26:49.930 --> 00:26:52.190
the ball come into the pocket at the good angle.
585
00:26:53.309 --> 00:26:54.869
And the amount of curve is affected by the oil
586
00:26:55.089 --> 00:26:57.140
as oil chain and as oil changes over the night,
587
00:26:57.500 --> 00:26:59.140
you get that the amount of curve changes and you're
588
00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:02.859
constantly making adjustments. But you're right. A curve ball is
589
00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:06.240
critical to bow well. I'm sure there's been some 300
590
00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.789
games from people that throw the ball straight, but it's
591
00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:11.869
very rare. Now, these bowling technologies, like the weight block
592
00:27:11.910 --> 00:27:13.549
they put in the ball that allows it to get
593
00:27:13.569 --> 00:27:16.089
this gyroscopic effect that prevents the oil from building up
594
00:27:16.170 --> 00:27:20.670
on one stripe. When that technology came out about in
595
00:27:20.690 --> 00:27:25.569
the 90s, 1990s, the bowling averages in leagues and the
596
00:27:25.609 --> 00:27:28.049
number of 300s per year increased dramatically.
597
00:27:29.390 --> 00:27:31.410
So tell me exactly what that is.
598
00:27:32.809 --> 00:27:33.109
What is?
599
00:27:33.470 --> 00:27:35.890
The blocking. The weight block. Yeah.
600
00:27:35.930 --> 00:27:38.000
So a bowling ball, again, is not a homogeneous sphere.
601
00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:42.799
If it were, you wouldn't get gyroscopic effects. And the
602
00:27:42.819 --> 00:27:45.660
ball would build up a ring or a circumference of
603
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:47.859
oil as it's going down the lane. And that would
604
00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:49.759
reduce the friction when it hits the dry part because
605
00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:53.680
it's spinning on this oil. So because they're inside the ball,
606
00:27:53.789 --> 00:27:56.630
a ball consists of what's called a cover stock. It's
607
00:27:56.710 --> 00:27:59.029
usually an inch or so thick of material on the
608
00:27:59.109 --> 00:28:03.140
outer part. There's a core inside of that. a different material,
609
00:28:03.180 --> 00:28:06.579
usually harder. And then inside the core, there's a weight block.
610
00:28:06.980 --> 00:28:11.730
And as Gary mentioned, it's not always symmetrical. It's generally
611
00:28:11.750 --> 00:28:14.029
the shape of a little football, but sometimes it has
612
00:28:14.109 --> 00:28:17.549
nodular shape. They have all these patented shapes that different
613
00:28:17.569 --> 00:28:21.269
manufacturers come out with for marketing mostly. But they have
614
00:28:21.309 --> 00:28:24.500
different shapes that are asymmetric. And they're placed in the core,
615
00:28:24.539 --> 00:28:28.400
they're cast inside the core in asymmetric directions. And when
616
00:28:28.420 --> 00:28:31.400
they drill your ball, there's a little plug that tells
617
00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:34.269
them what the axis of this core is. So when
618
00:28:34.289 --> 00:28:36.250
they drill the holes, they can decide what angle to
619
00:28:36.269 --> 00:28:38.549
put these holes at relative to the axis of the core.
620
00:28:39.009 --> 00:28:41.750
And now all that contributes to two things. It contributes
621
00:28:41.789 --> 00:28:45.210
to the gyroscopic effects and it contributes to what's called
622
00:28:45.230 --> 00:28:47.250
the radius of gyration, which we talk about, which you
623
00:28:47.289 --> 00:28:47.950
talk about also.
624
00:28:48.509 --> 00:28:51.829
I can't help wondering, right? Because I don't think 10-pin
625
00:28:51.849 --> 00:28:56.230
bowling was initially designed started knowing that you'd oil the lane.
626
00:28:56.579 --> 00:28:59.140
So A, who came up with that clever idea? And B,
627
00:28:59.220 --> 00:29:00.779
what happens if you don't oil the lane?
628
00:29:02.019 --> 00:29:04.839
Well, that's great points, Gary. Yeah, the oil originally was
629
00:29:04.900 --> 00:29:07.660
to protect the wood, to treat the wood, and also
630
00:29:07.940 --> 00:29:11.509
to limit friction. Because if you had a totally dry
631
00:29:11.549 --> 00:29:12.250
wood surface.
632
00:29:12.849 --> 00:29:15.109
You'd end up with a big rut in the middle
633
00:29:15.150 --> 00:29:15.650
of the lane.
634
00:29:15.670 --> 00:29:16.109
Exactly.
635
00:29:16.549 --> 00:29:17.589
It'd be three gutters.
636
00:29:18.089 --> 00:29:19.829
The ball would be like a trench digger.
637
00:29:20.269 --> 00:29:20.849
Exactly.
638
00:29:20.869 --> 00:29:24.450
Yeah. So they first, you know, they conditioned the lanes
639
00:29:24.470 --> 00:29:26.549
with oil to treat the wood and also to reduce
640
00:29:26.589 --> 00:29:29.500
the friction so the wood wouldn't get damaged too easily.
641
00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:32.519
And in the early days, people threw the ball straight,
642
00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:35.160
you know, and then the oil was there. And then somebody,
643
00:29:35.900 --> 00:29:38.369
just like in billiards, one day somebody put a piece
644
00:29:38.410 --> 00:29:39.490
of leather on the end of the tip and then
645
00:29:39.509 --> 00:29:40.890
they were able to put spin. And then they started,
646
00:29:40.910 --> 00:29:43.710
a whole new world of shots opened up. Same thing
647
00:29:43.730 --> 00:29:46.130
with bowling. Somebody one day said, oh, what if I
648
00:29:46.170 --> 00:29:48.039
spin the ball? It's going to slide through the oil
649
00:29:48.059 --> 00:29:50.500
and then curve. Does that help me? They didn't know
650
00:29:50.680 --> 00:29:53.319
at first, but through experience, they learned it helps a lot.
651
00:29:54.519 --> 00:29:57.509
Has there ever been a Bugs Bunny shot where They
652
00:29:57.529 --> 00:29:59.390
throw the ball, but the ball doesn't leave their hand
653
00:29:59.509 --> 00:30:01.269
and the ball drags them down.
654
00:30:02.970 --> 00:30:05.990
You know, funny you should say that because as a,
655
00:30:06.109 --> 00:30:08.069
you know, I live in Colorado and it's very dry normally,
656
00:30:08.109 --> 00:30:10.579
but I played in the tournament this past weekend and, uh,
657
00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:12.190
there were a lot of people in the bowling lanes
658
00:30:12.259 --> 00:30:14.279
and it was getting a little warm. My thumb starts
659
00:30:14.299 --> 00:30:16.160
to swell and get a little humid. And then all
660
00:30:16.180 --> 00:30:18.539
of a sudden this, the hole gets a little, it's
661
00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:21.640
a little sticky. And I actually, the ball stuck to
662
00:30:21.660 --> 00:30:25.299
my thumb, uh, once and it didn't come out of
663
00:30:25.319 --> 00:30:26.940
my hand until my hand was way up in the
664
00:30:27.019 --> 00:30:29.119
air and the ball went flying like 15 feet up
665
00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:31.319
in the air vertically and it pulled me with me
666
00:30:31.339 --> 00:30:34.970
and I barely caught myself. See, the problem, if you
667
00:30:35.009 --> 00:30:37.529
don't catch yourself, you go flying Superman style and you
668
00:30:37.549 --> 00:30:39.509
land in this oil, you go sliding down the lane just.
669
00:30:39.390 --> 00:30:42.250
Like the ball. Okay, so that can happen.
670
00:30:42.269 --> 00:30:44.230
Either that or you just leave your thumb inside of
671
00:30:44.289 --> 00:30:44.789
a ball.
672
00:30:45.769 --> 00:30:45.930
Ouch.
673
00:30:46.170 --> 00:30:48.519
Well, it does hurt. We'd have to add another law
674
00:30:48.579 --> 00:30:52.009
to the cartoon laws of physics to understand what happened there. Well,
675
00:30:52.029 --> 00:30:53.450
we're going to take a quick break. And when we
676
00:30:53.470 --> 00:30:57.170
come back, we want to learn more about bowling fashions.
677
00:30:57.569 --> 00:31:04.460
Or rather, what's up with the shoes? Why? And whose
678
00:31:04.619 --> 00:31:08.319
idea was it when I'll just wear shoes that other
679
00:31:08.359 --> 00:31:12.079
stank people wore just before me? Who came up with
680
00:31:12.119 --> 00:31:17.609
that idea and why? We're back. StarTalk Sports Edition. All
681
00:31:17.650 --> 00:31:21.769
about 10-pin bowling and the physics of it. We got
682
00:31:21.900 --> 00:31:27.269
David Alcitor. Unknown to us previously, when we had him
683
00:31:27.309 --> 00:31:30.670
on before talking about billiards, that the man is also
684
00:31:30.710 --> 00:31:35.210
a bowling shark. And very impressed by this. Dave, I
685
00:31:35.230 --> 00:31:38.269
want to pick up a point that you started talking about,
686
00:31:38.309 --> 00:31:41.549
but I want to ask a little more deeply. You're
687
00:31:41.569 --> 00:31:44.809
saying today the ball has three components to it in
688
00:31:44.869 --> 00:31:48.650
its manufacture. An outer shell, let's call it like my
689
00:31:48.690 --> 00:31:51.450
analogy is earth's crust, okay, an outer shell. Then we
690
00:31:51.470 --> 00:31:54.390
have a mantle that goes inside. But in the core
691
00:31:54.859 --> 00:31:59.960
is a thing that's not centered. It's off-center. So tell
692
00:31:59.980 --> 00:32:02.720
me what would happen if I mounted the ball on
693
00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:05.299
an axis and then spun it. Would it just wobble?
694
00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:10.680
Is that what it would do? What's the spinning consequence
695
00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:13.460
to the ball for putting something in there that's off-center?
696
00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:16.500
Yes. Great questions, Neil.
697
00:32:16.519 --> 00:32:17.220
All right.
698
00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:23.480
Yeah, so this asymmetry is what enables the gyroscopic effects.
699
00:32:23.500 --> 00:32:26.680
All right, and the asymmetry comes from the shape of
700
00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:28.920
this core. It also comes from what angle do they
701
00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:31.259
drill the holes of your ball. It also comes from
702
00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:34.200
what angle do you spin the ball about as you
703
00:32:34.220 --> 00:32:37.140
throw it. So the ball is spinning about some axis.
704
00:32:37.380 --> 00:32:41.019
The ball has this asymmetry. Friction is acting on the ball.
705
00:32:41.660 --> 00:32:44.119
It causes the ball to do this gyroscopic precession or
706
00:32:44.180 --> 00:32:46.720
wobble or oscillating rotation, whatever you want to call it.
707
00:32:47.130 --> 00:32:50.359
And that creates what's called track flare. The oil doesn't
708
00:32:50.380 --> 00:32:53.079
build up under circumference. The oil creates these tracks that
709
00:32:53.119 --> 00:32:55.700
are flared out and separated. And when you get your
710
00:32:55.720 --> 00:32:57.400
ball back after you throw it, you can actually see
711
00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:00.359
these oil patterns on the ball. It's called track flare.
712
00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:02.319
And you can see these different stripes of oil in
713
00:33:02.339 --> 00:33:04.759
the ball at these weird angles all around the ball.
714
00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:06.400
Oh, my God.
715
00:33:06.440 --> 00:33:09.690
That's why every time you watch bowling on television, which,
716
00:33:09.730 --> 00:33:10.630
by the way, I never do.
717
00:33:11.099 --> 00:33:11.410
Okay.
718
00:33:11.579 --> 00:33:17.160
Because I have a life and Saturday afternoons for me
719
00:33:17.220 --> 00:33:21.940
are very busy. But every time you see these guys
720
00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:26.940
approach the lane, they have like this cloth and they're
721
00:33:27.299 --> 00:33:31.240
like polishing their ball, which I had no idea why
722
00:33:31.299 --> 00:33:31.980
they did that.
723
00:33:32.099 --> 00:33:33.869
So they're removing the oil? Bingo.
724
00:33:34.140 --> 00:33:34.900
They're removing the oil.
725
00:33:34.920 --> 00:33:35.589
I never knew that.
726
00:33:37.549 --> 00:33:39.890
Generate as much friction as possible. You also want your
727
00:33:39.910 --> 00:33:41.589
throw to be consistent. So you don't want to have
728
00:33:41.750 --> 00:33:43.849
oil on it and have the oil build up over time.
729
00:33:43.869 --> 00:33:44.809
You want to get rid of that oil.
730
00:33:45.289 --> 00:33:45.630
Man.
731
00:33:45.730 --> 00:33:50.359
I just thought they really liked those balls. I was like, man,
732
00:33:50.390 --> 00:33:52.680
that guy is proud of that bowling ball.
733
00:33:53.039 --> 00:33:53.559
Look at him.
734
00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:57.420
He's just like, yeah, baby, it's okay. Daddy's got you, baby.
735
00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:00.410
Daddy's got you.
736
00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:01.819
And they want to shine it up so they can
737
00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:05.460
see their pretty face in the reflection too.
738
00:34:05.500 --> 00:34:10.909
So- knowing this is happening and the weight block is offset,
739
00:34:11.630 --> 00:34:14.440
I will now have to structure my technique to bring
740
00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:17.539
the best out of that particular setup on a ball.
741
00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:21.400
So it's always been a one-handed thing for me watching
742
00:34:21.480 --> 00:34:27.500
bowling at any time. But now the successful way is
743
00:34:27.559 --> 00:34:30.449
a two-handed bowl, which sounds a little bit like my
744
00:34:32.070 --> 00:34:33.630
mother would do, to be fair.
745
00:34:34.329 --> 00:34:34.869
Yeah.
746
00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:39.059
Yeah, the two-handed throw is actually a fairly new thing,
747
00:34:39.139 --> 00:34:41.239
and it's actually not widespread yet.
748
00:34:41.260 --> 00:34:42.099
It is not new.
749
00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:42.619
Yeah.
750
00:34:43.340 --> 00:34:44.599
Chuck did it when he was a baby.
751
00:34:44.619 --> 00:34:47.420
I was going to tell you, that was invented by three-year-olds.
752
00:34:47.699 --> 00:34:48.139
Okay.
753
00:34:49.559 --> 00:34:52.199
Yeah, next thing you're going to tell me is they
754
00:34:52.239 --> 00:34:54.139
put gates up over the gutters.
755
00:34:58.380 --> 00:35:01.199
But so there's something called fingertip grip, which.
756
00:35:02.570 --> 00:35:04.789
Now that is something, that is something, a fingertip grip
757
00:35:04.889 --> 00:35:09.099
is something that's prevalent. Everybody, any decent bowler, they don't
758
00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:12.239
stick their middle finger and index finger all the way
759
00:35:12.260 --> 00:35:14.239
into the ball, up to the middle knuckle. They only
760
00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:17.219
put the fingertips in. And the span, the span of
761
00:35:17.239 --> 00:35:19.760
the holes, the fingertips are much farther from the thumb
762
00:35:20.199 --> 00:35:21.820
than the balls you would see in a bowling alley.
763
00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:24.179
The balls you can use, the fingers, the finger holes
764
00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:26.699
are pretty close together. But any good bowler, the fingers
765
00:35:26.760 --> 00:35:28.480
are further apart. So you just part, you just put
766
00:35:28.500 --> 00:35:32.409
your fingertips in the ball, the index finger and middle finger. fingertips,
767
00:35:32.489 --> 00:35:34.989
then your thumb. That gives you a wider span. And
768
00:35:35.010 --> 00:35:37.309
when you want to apply spin, those fingers are the
769
00:35:37.349 --> 00:35:40.489
last things that come out. The two fingers, index finger
770
00:35:40.530 --> 00:35:40.889
and middle finger.
771
00:35:40.909 --> 00:35:42.920
Does that mean the holes aren't drilled as deeply then?
772
00:35:43.380 --> 00:35:43.800
That's right.
773
00:35:43.960 --> 00:35:44.360
That's right.
774
00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:47.539
And so that gives you, it's like you're flicking the
775
00:35:47.579 --> 00:35:50.039
ball at the very end. You're kind of giving it
776
00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:52.579
a whip. It's like a whip effect on the ball.
777
00:35:52.940 --> 00:35:54.969
Okay, so if the holes aren't as deep, that means
778
00:35:55.030 --> 00:35:56.289
the balls are more symmetric.
779
00:35:57.429 --> 00:36:01.449
Well, the thumb hole's still deep. But when they drill
780
00:36:01.469 --> 00:36:05.579
the holes in the ball, it does create asymmetry. But
781
00:36:06.099 --> 00:36:08.280
these weight blocks, part of the issue is they put
782
00:36:08.300 --> 00:36:10.300
it off center slightly. So when they drill the holes,
783
00:36:10.360 --> 00:36:15.199
it tends to balance it a little bit. So that's balanced.
784
00:36:15.239 --> 00:36:19.369
But most balls are actually not perfectly balanced. But that's OK.
785
00:36:20.150 --> 00:36:28.329
But here's something. In Vegas, proper dice have holes drilled
786
00:36:28.389 --> 00:36:32.619
for the numbers. and refilled with another sort of putty
787
00:36:33.000 --> 00:36:35.320
that has the same density as the material that they
788
00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:38.940
drilled out. So the numbers are in white dots and
789
00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:42.340
the dice are red typically, right? And so now there's
790
00:36:42.389 --> 00:36:45.110
no side that weighs more than any other because of that.
791
00:36:45.309 --> 00:36:47.110
If you have dice where it's just holes and that's it,
792
00:36:47.570 --> 00:36:50.530
it's a non-symmetric dice. And it will not give you
793
00:36:50.710 --> 00:36:52.030
equal probabilities.
794
00:36:52.369 --> 00:36:54.070
And they go to extremes to make sure those dice
795
00:36:54.110 --> 00:36:54.949
are balanced as well.
796
00:36:55.510 --> 00:36:56.869
Not in my neighborhood, they didn't.
797
00:36:58.469 --> 00:37:02.079
So the question, Dave, the question we have to ask
798
00:37:02.179 --> 00:37:05.159
is why do bowling shoes look like they've been stolen
799
00:37:05.260 --> 00:37:08.519
from a 15th century medieval festival?
800
00:37:09.349 --> 00:37:12.730
And who convinced us that I should agree to stick
801
00:37:12.849 --> 00:37:15.750
my feet into somebody else's stank feet that have been
802
00:37:15.789 --> 00:37:17.289
there right before I arrived?
803
00:37:18.050 --> 00:37:21.949
And what is the incidence of athlete's foot amongst bowlers?
804
00:37:23.889 --> 00:37:28.210
Well, luckily, bowling alleys have a thing called Lysol. They
805
00:37:28.230 --> 00:37:30.809
spray Lysol on these shoes to help limit that, Chuck.
806
00:37:31.449 --> 00:37:32.869
But answering Gary's question, why do.
807
00:37:32.849 --> 00:37:34.820
They look like they do? He didn't say, he sprays
808
00:37:34.860 --> 00:37:37.309
it in to stop it. It's an expression to limit it.
809
00:37:37.449 --> 00:37:38.030
I caught that.
810
00:37:38.369 --> 00:37:40.050
You caught that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
811
00:37:40.090 --> 00:37:42.550
That's a very, very important distinction, Neil.
812
00:37:42.570 --> 00:37:45.969
That's right. You know, any good bowler has their own shoes, obviously.
813
00:37:46.030 --> 00:37:48.780
But the general population doesn't have their own bowling shoes.
814
00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:50.420
You can't expect that. So you have to provide them.
815
00:37:50.579 --> 00:37:52.559
You have to provide them. And isn't it awesome, Gary,
816
00:37:52.579 --> 00:37:54.539
that they look so retro cool? They don't look like
817
00:37:54.780 --> 00:37:57.960
medieval English stuff. They look like retro cool American, dude.
818
00:37:58.659 --> 00:38:01.699
No, man. Yeah, every time I see them, I'm waiting
819
00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:03.760
for Ritchie Cunningham to come pop.
820
00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:04.440
Into a door.
821
00:38:04.940 --> 00:38:07.380
So the thing, Dave, there's got to be a reason
822
00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:09.860
why you have to have those shoes. You can't just
823
00:38:09.980 --> 00:38:12.559
come in and bowl in your own sneakers or something.
824
00:38:13.239 --> 00:38:15.320
Is there something special about these shoes, apart from the
825
00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:16.679
fact they look like they're from.
826
00:38:16.559 --> 00:38:17.179
The 15th century?
827
00:38:17.800 --> 00:38:21.280
Very special. The part under your toes is actually a
828
00:38:21.300 --> 00:38:24.460
piece of leather that allows it to slide more easily
829
00:38:24.519 --> 00:38:27.500
on the wood surface on the lane. And the heel
830
00:38:27.559 --> 00:38:30.099
is actually more like a rubber. All right. And that
831
00:38:30.119 --> 00:38:33.679
serves as your break. It's not really sticky rubber, but
832
00:38:33.699 --> 00:38:35.659
it's kind of a hard rubber. But if you try
833
00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:37.460
to bowl like in tennis shoes or something, you're not
834
00:38:37.699 --> 00:38:39.239
going to slide. You're going to stick. And you might
835
00:38:39.260 --> 00:38:41.230
do the Superman thing into the oil. You don't want
836
00:38:41.250 --> 00:38:44.750
to do that. So you'll want to slide toward that
837
00:38:44.789 --> 00:38:46.929
foul line where you release the ball. And the bowling
838
00:38:46.949 --> 00:38:48.750
shoe is allowed to do that. And the heel, the
839
00:38:48.789 --> 00:38:50.230
rubber heel lets you put on the brakes if you're
840
00:38:50.250 --> 00:38:52.320
sliding too much. Wow.
841
00:38:52.340 --> 00:38:54.539
So it's all about the friction. Just the right amount.
842
00:38:54.840 --> 00:38:57.059
Not too much, not too little friction. Exactly.
843
00:38:57.079 --> 00:38:57.860
Mm-hmm.
844
00:38:59.199 --> 00:39:01.150
They have a sense. They have a sense for, we
845
00:39:01.170 --> 00:39:04.429
kind of do this kind of instinctively using that heel.
846
00:39:04.449 --> 00:39:06.269
Like if we're sliding too much, we can kind of
847
00:39:06.309 --> 00:39:08.849
sense that immediately. We don't think about it. And then
848
00:39:08.869 --> 00:39:10.570
we apply a little more pressure to the heel. So
849
00:39:10.590 --> 00:39:13.030
it all happens, you know, with experience, you, you take
850
00:39:13.070 --> 00:39:15.449
advantage of that leather and that rubber to control your
851
00:39:15.489 --> 00:39:19.510
slide optimally. Cause the surface gets dirty. Sometimes those teenagers
852
00:39:19.550 --> 00:39:21.289
that throw the ball with two hands, Chuck, sometimes they
853
00:39:21.710 --> 00:39:23.110
get their sticky fingers all over stuff.
854
00:39:23.949 --> 00:39:24.239
Yeah.
855
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:25.980
And they get the lanes dirty.
856
00:39:26.980 --> 00:39:30.369
Well, that's why they shouldn't be allowed in the alley.
857
00:39:31.849 --> 00:39:34.909
I understand that bowling is supposed to be a family sport,
858
00:39:34.949 --> 00:39:37.360
but just for certain family members.
859
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:40.019
How about if you bowl while you're still holding your beer?
860
00:39:40.139 --> 00:39:40.659
Is that allowed?
861
00:39:42.539 --> 00:39:47.599
No. In fact, good bowlers don't like when you have anything,
862
00:39:47.840 --> 00:39:50.570
any food or drink in the lane area. You know,
863
00:39:50.710 --> 00:39:51.969
you have to be in the back. You have to
864
00:39:51.989 --> 00:39:53.510
be back where the carpet is, you know, and by
865
00:39:53.530 --> 00:39:55.429
the counter. They don't want you to have any kind
866
00:39:55.449 --> 00:39:55.789
of food products.
867
00:39:55.809 --> 00:39:57.630
Botanists would go out of business if they didn't allow
868
00:39:58.150 --> 00:40:01.309
eating the chips and dip.
869
00:40:01.670 --> 00:40:03.090
And the pizza.
870
00:40:03.289 --> 00:40:04.309
Yeah, yeah, you need to.
871
00:40:04.309 --> 00:40:05.949
Yeah, but there's lots of places to eat and drink
872
00:40:06.369 --> 00:40:07.030
behind the lanes.
873
00:40:07.050 --> 00:40:07.730
I have nachos.
874
00:40:07.750 --> 00:40:08.349
I have nachos.
875
00:40:08.449 --> 00:40:11.349
And what about the pins, Dave? Because they are getting
876
00:40:11.409 --> 00:40:14.679
brutalized every time you throw a 16, 15 pound ball
877
00:40:15.030 --> 00:40:18.500
down the lane. How are you ensuring that their integrity
878
00:40:18.519 --> 00:40:18.840
is there?
879
00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:19.159
Because.
880
00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:22.659
they just, I mean, what are they made of now?
881
00:40:22.900 --> 00:40:23.880
Are they still made of wood?
882
00:40:24.880 --> 00:40:28.340
Well, they were forever. You know, bowling's pretty old. It's like,
883
00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:32.039
it's literally thousands of years old. The Egyptians had a
884
00:40:32.059 --> 00:40:32.599
form of bowling.
885
00:40:33.449 --> 00:40:33.639
All right.
886
00:40:33.739 --> 00:40:34.820
And, but for a long time, it would have been
887
00:40:34.840 --> 00:40:36.409
out of wood and they were turned on a lathe
888
00:40:36.449 --> 00:40:40.170
to give them that, that distinctive S shape. And the
889
00:40:40.210 --> 00:40:42.469
wood pins, you know, they, they get chipped, they get cracked,
890
00:40:42.489 --> 00:40:44.429
you know, that, and they had to be replaced, you know,
891
00:40:44.449 --> 00:40:48.389
fairly often, but nowadays they are synthetic, a really tough material.
892
00:40:49.210 --> 00:40:50.869
And the good thing about the synthetic pins is they're
893
00:40:50.909 --> 00:40:53.789
more consistent. You know, wood has grain and wood has
894
00:40:53.829 --> 00:40:56.909
different properties in different directions and on different portions. But
895
00:40:56.929 --> 00:40:59.210
the synthetic pins, they're more, you know, they're more consistent
896
00:40:59.250 --> 00:41:02.320
and uniform. And that's probably contributed to the higher scores
897
00:41:02.610 --> 00:41:04.469
over the years as well. You know, if things are
898
00:41:04.489 --> 00:41:07.420
more consistent and these machines that put down the oil,
899
00:41:07.480 --> 00:41:10.760
if they're better, if the machines that spot the pins
900
00:41:11.079 --> 00:41:13.559
in the correct places are more accurate with tolerances, if
901
00:41:13.599 --> 00:41:15.400
all that stuff is better, then we can bowl better.
902
00:41:15.960 --> 00:41:18.079
And that's what's happened over the years. Scores have gotten higher.
903
00:41:19.110 --> 00:41:21.230
How rare is a 300? How rare is a 300?
904
00:41:21.230 --> 00:41:25.110
Well, even league bowlers like myself bowl 300s every once
905
00:41:25.130 --> 00:41:30.500
in a while. So this past weekend, I bowled a 279.
906
00:41:30.500 --> 00:41:32.239
I didn't ask about a 27.
907
00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:37.880
I said 300. That's not a 300. Don't play that game.
908
00:41:38.679 --> 00:41:40.980
I don't know how hard it is. So the 379,
909
00:41:40.980 --> 00:41:43.019
I had one shot where I threw it what I
910
00:41:43.039 --> 00:41:46.059
thought was perfect. And I had what's called a ringing 10-pin.
911
00:41:46.619 --> 00:41:48.949
The 10-pin is the one in the corner. And the
912
00:41:48.969 --> 00:41:50.969
pin in front of that is the six pin. And
913
00:41:51.030 --> 00:41:53.210
if the entry angle isn't exactly perfect, you don't hit
914
00:41:53.230 --> 00:41:54.889
it in exactly the right place, that six pin just
915
00:41:55.030 --> 00:41:57.530
wraps around the 10. Sometimes it touches it and the
916
00:41:57.530 --> 00:41:58.849
10 pin just ringing in place.
917
00:41:59.050 --> 00:41:59.750
It's just wobbling.
918
00:41:59.769 --> 00:42:02.230
It's ringing in place. And that was the only mistake.
919
00:42:02.840 --> 00:42:04.960
I had all strikes except this one ringing 10. So
920
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:05.519
it's really hard.
921
00:42:05.539 --> 00:42:07.699
That's why they call it a perfect game.
922
00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:09.079
I know. If you want to be perfect, you got
923
00:42:09.099 --> 00:42:09.460
to be perfect.
924
00:42:09.480 --> 00:42:11.820
If it's not perfect, it's not perfect. Wait, wait. So
925
00:42:12.199 --> 00:42:14.460
correct me if I'm wrong. Correct me if I'm wrong.
926
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:18.889
So to bowl a 300, you have to roll... 12
927
00:42:18.889 --> 00:42:19.949
consecutive strikes.
928
00:42:20.469 --> 00:42:20.889
Exactly.
929
00:42:21.360 --> 00:42:24.739
Okay. So has anyone bowled two, 300 games in a row?
930
00:42:25.119 --> 00:42:28.079
Yes. People have bowled three, three, three, 300 games in
931
00:42:28.099 --> 00:42:31.860
a row. That gives you a perfect series of 900. Wow.
932
00:42:31.960 --> 00:42:32.420
Okay.
933
00:42:32.440 --> 00:42:34.780
So based on that, I'm just going to say it
934
00:42:34.800 --> 00:42:35.480
ain't that hard.
935
00:42:37.880 --> 00:42:38.300
Okay.
936
00:42:38.500 --> 00:42:41.269
I'm just saying I've never heard of a pitcher who's
937
00:42:41.349 --> 00:42:43.449
thrown three perfect games in a row.
938
00:42:45.139 --> 00:42:46.960
Yeah, I think bowling is easier.
939
00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:49.900
I think it's easier than getting a hole-in-one in golf,
940
00:42:49.960 --> 00:42:53.269
for example. It's easier than throwing a perfect game in baseball.
941
00:42:54.369 --> 00:42:55.070
But it's still hard.
942
00:42:55.090 --> 00:42:59.530
It's still hard. So for you, how many perfect games
943
00:42:59.550 --> 00:43:00.539
have you bowled in your life?
944
00:43:01.159 --> 00:43:04.530
Only one. But I've had many 270 runs.
945
00:43:04.550 --> 00:43:07.909
I didn't ask you about the other games. Okay.
946
00:43:07.929 --> 00:43:12.650
That's like saying, Chuck, how many standing ovations have you had? Well,
947
00:43:12.949 --> 00:43:16.230
one time four people in the back stood up, but
948
00:43:16.250 --> 00:43:17.929
then I saw that they were just going to a
949
00:43:17.969 --> 00:43:18.980
concession stand.
950
00:43:19.300 --> 00:43:23.760
All right. So here, I'll make you feel a little better.
951
00:43:23.780 --> 00:43:28.739
You ready? So how many strikes in a row had
952
00:43:28.820 --> 00:43:33.980
you thrown before it? and after it, so that we
953
00:43:34.019 --> 00:43:37.010
can now get the total number of consecutive strikes that
954
00:43:37.030 --> 00:43:37.619
you've ever thrown.
955
00:43:37.650 --> 00:43:37.969
Ooh.
956
00:43:37.989 --> 00:43:39.429
How about that?
957
00:43:39.449 --> 00:43:40.730
Yeah, and we keep track of that.
958
00:43:40.869 --> 00:43:41.250
We know.
959
00:43:41.409 --> 00:43:43.570
We know what that number is. Mine is 18. So
960
00:43:43.610 --> 00:43:44.849
I threw 18 strikes in a row.
961
00:43:44.889 --> 00:43:46.329
Yeah, very good.
962
00:43:46.550 --> 00:43:49.190
And one time I threw 16 strikes in a row
963
00:43:49.210 --> 00:43:51.909
and didn't get a 300. In fact, both games were
964
00:43:51.949 --> 00:43:55.360
like in the 250s or 260s, which is like mediocre.
965
00:43:55.659 --> 00:43:57.780
I don't get it. How can you, if 12 in
966
00:43:57.800 --> 00:44:00.110
a row is a 300- How did 16 not get you?
967
00:44:00.119 --> 00:44:02.300
Over two games. Over two games. Oh.
968
00:44:02.679 --> 00:44:04.559
Oh, eight and eight.
969
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:06.929
Yeah, like the last eight. Yeah, the last eight of
970
00:44:06.969 --> 00:44:08.610
the first game, the first eight of the second game.
971
00:44:10.030 --> 00:44:12.449
Oh, yeah. Right. You know what that's like, Chuck? The
972
00:44:12.469 --> 00:44:16.329
baseball analogy here is where you have multiple relief pitchers
973
00:44:17.210 --> 00:44:18.809
combining to pitch a no-hitter.
974
00:44:19.409 --> 00:44:19.710
Right.
975
00:44:19.889 --> 00:44:20.630
That's what that is.
976
00:44:20.650 --> 00:44:21.070
There you go.
977
00:44:21.110 --> 00:44:22.090
You staple it together.
978
00:44:22.170 --> 00:44:23.409
You staple it together.
979
00:44:23.429 --> 00:44:25.639
Yeah, so no one pitcher gets a no-hitter, but they
980
00:44:25.719 --> 00:44:26.960
all sort of participate in it.
981
00:44:27.320 --> 00:44:31.150
So has it ever happened to you where it's the
982
00:44:31.269 --> 00:44:33.869
last throw of the game because the 10th frame, you
983
00:44:33.889 --> 00:44:35.130
just get three throws.
984
00:44:35.369 --> 00:44:35.570
Yes.
985
00:44:35.769 --> 00:44:38.210
But if you pick up the spare. But has it
986
00:44:38.349 --> 00:44:43.380
ever happened where in the 10th frame, the last throw,
987
00:44:43.719 --> 00:44:45.219
you screw up your perfect game?
988
00:44:46.039 --> 00:44:47.780
No, I've never done that, but that is very common.
989
00:44:48.099 --> 00:44:49.300
I have a friend who did that and he got 299.
990
00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:49.880
That's it.
991
00:44:50.900 --> 00:44:54.570
Yeah, you can get a 299, 298, 297. But if
992
00:44:54.590 --> 00:44:55.940
your miss is somewhere in the middle of the game,
993
00:44:55.960 --> 00:44:58.219
you get a 279. That's the highest you can get
994
00:44:58.380 --> 00:45:00.179
if your miss is in the middle of the game, 279. Gotcha.
995
00:45:01.940 --> 00:45:04.380
Okay, go back to the lane. You've got the arrows
996
00:45:04.579 --> 00:45:07.019
because the lane itself is a series.
997
00:45:06.739 --> 00:45:09.500
Of, I don't want to call it planks, but boards.
998
00:45:09.619 --> 00:45:10.000
There you go.
999
00:45:10.460 --> 00:45:14.449
And they all have these little arrows in there. And obviously,
1000
00:45:14.659 --> 00:45:17.250
they're used as guidelines. Are there any other kind of
1001
00:45:17.309 --> 00:45:20.869
markers on the real estate that you can use to
1002
00:45:20.949 --> 00:45:22.909
key off and get a better strike?
1003
00:45:24.199 --> 00:45:27.360
Yeah, there are other markers. There's a row of little
1004
00:45:27.400 --> 00:45:29.960
circle marks in front of the arrows. The arrows are
1005
00:45:29.980 --> 00:45:32.440
about 15 feet down the lane, and that's what most
1006
00:45:32.480 --> 00:45:35.539
bowlers use to aim. You don't want to be gazing
1007
00:45:35.579 --> 00:45:37.010
down at your ball or gazing at the foul line.
1008
00:45:37.030 --> 00:45:39.730
You want to be gazing at your distant target about
1009
00:45:39.730 --> 00:45:41.989
15 feet down the lane. So that's what most bowlers
1010
00:45:42.010 --> 00:45:44.409
are looking at. They're trying to hit a certain board.
1011
00:45:44.829 --> 00:45:46.630
Between the arrows, there's boards. You can actually see the
1012
00:45:46.650 --> 00:45:50.889
individual boards of the lane. There's five boards per arrow,
1013
00:45:51.030 --> 00:45:56.179
and there's seven arrows across the lane. So there's... there's 35.
1014
00:45:56.179 --> 00:45:56.420
Yeah.
1015
00:45:56.920 --> 00:46:00.079
This, this, this, see, there's, there's 40, there's 39 boards total.
1016
00:46:00.880 --> 00:46:01.219
Okay.
1017
00:46:01.340 --> 00:46:03.280
There's seven arrows, but there's two gaps on each side
1018
00:46:03.300 --> 00:46:03.739
of the arrows.
1019
00:46:03.909 --> 00:46:04.139
Anyway.
1020
00:46:04.280 --> 00:46:07.610
All right. So yeah, most bowlers are aiming at a
1021
00:46:07.639 --> 00:46:09.969
particular board. The boards are about a one inch wide
1022
00:46:10.849 --> 00:46:13.090
and some good bowlers can, can hit their target within
1023
00:46:13.130 --> 00:46:17.670
about an inch, fairly, fairly reliably. Two inches, the pros
1024
00:46:17.690 --> 00:46:19.570
are within an inch, you know, league bowls on me,
1025
00:46:19.650 --> 00:46:21.650
like me, we can get within two inches, pretty reliably
1026
00:46:21.670 --> 00:46:24.130
the whole night. We can hit our target within two inches,
1027
00:46:24.190 --> 00:46:26.849
but If your speed is off a little bit, if
1028
00:46:26.869 --> 00:46:28.510
you throw it a little too slow, it curves too
1029
00:46:28.550 --> 00:46:30.010
soon and you don't get a strike. You throw a
1030
00:46:30.010 --> 00:46:32.769
little too fast, it curves too late. If you don't
1031
00:46:33.030 --> 00:46:34.820
release your fingers the exact same way, you don't get
1032
00:46:34.840 --> 00:46:36.559
the same amount of spin. So you don't get the
1033
00:46:36.599 --> 00:46:38.260
same curve. So there's so many variables.
1034
00:46:38.739 --> 00:46:39.300
Isn't it amazing?
1035
00:46:40.980 --> 00:46:44.300
I am almost developing a healthy respect for bowling.
1036
00:46:44.679 --> 00:46:47.780
Well, thank you, Chuck, because I was perceiving a very
1037
00:46:47.960 --> 00:46:50.010
strong disrespect earlier.
1038
00:46:50.210 --> 00:46:51.489
I've got to tell you the truth.
1039
00:46:52.780 --> 00:46:55.380
I'm going to be honest. I felt it too, Dave.
1040
00:46:55.480 --> 00:47:00.019
I didn't like him dissing my 279s, man. Oh, God.
1041
00:47:00.159 --> 00:47:02.920
I have to tell you, Dave, that I think a
1042
00:47:03.000 --> 00:47:07.980
lot of people suffer from this bias where because everyone
1043
00:47:08.059 --> 00:47:13.280
can go bowling, people are under the impression that everyone
1044
00:47:13.340 --> 00:47:17.840
can bowl or bowl well or it's not as difficult
1045
00:47:17.960 --> 00:47:21.159
as you just let us see, which it seems like
1046
00:47:21.219 --> 00:47:23.369
it's a game of True precision.
1047
00:47:24.329 --> 00:47:25.829
But at the same time, this is the beauty of
1048
00:47:25.869 --> 00:47:29.780
bowling and billiards. You can be terrible and still have
1049
00:47:29.820 --> 00:47:32.800
a great time. That's what I love about billiards and pool.
1050
00:47:32.920 --> 00:47:33.769
Anybody can enjoy it.
1051
00:47:34.179 --> 00:47:35.420
That's a beautiful thought.
1052
00:47:35.500 --> 00:47:39.739
Has anyone tried to sort of change the game? Make
1053
00:47:39.780 --> 00:47:43.840
it sexier, more interesting, or is it as good as
1054
00:47:43.880 --> 00:47:45.920
it's ever going to get as we find it right now?
1055
00:47:46.840 --> 00:47:48.480
Well, like most sports and games, we don't want to
1056
00:47:48.519 --> 00:47:49.179
change anything.
1057
00:47:49.639 --> 00:47:49.900
All right.
1058
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:52.500
In fact, these new balls that kind of revolutionize the
1059
00:47:52.539 --> 00:47:55.260
game and kind of increase the scores a lot. You know,
1060
00:47:55.579 --> 00:47:58.469
purists don't like that because it changes the game and
1061
00:47:58.489 --> 00:48:01.170
then you can't compare today's performance to the past performance.
1062
00:48:01.210 --> 00:48:03.110
So we want the game to stay the same. But
1063
00:48:03.130 --> 00:48:05.469
having said that, technology has changed a little bit and
1064
00:48:05.530 --> 00:48:08.940
technique has changed somewhat. We mentioned the two handed bowling.
1065
00:48:09.480 --> 00:48:09.639
Right.
1066
00:48:09.679 --> 00:48:11.559
So most bowlers had their fingertips in the ball and
1067
00:48:11.579 --> 00:48:13.960
their thumb in the ball. But these two handers now,
1068
00:48:14.019 --> 00:48:16.429
they only put their fingertips in the ball. And they
1069
00:48:16.449 --> 00:48:18.369
need the other hand to help support the ball so
1070
00:48:18.389 --> 00:48:20.360
it doesn't fall off when they're about to release it.
1071
00:48:20.369 --> 00:48:22.409
They have to help support it. So they go down
1072
00:48:22.429 --> 00:48:24.309
the lane holding the ball with both hands. They have
1073
00:48:24.329 --> 00:48:27.900
their fingertips in the ball only. And when they release it,
1074
00:48:28.369 --> 00:48:30.590
they can put way more spin on the ball because
1075
00:48:30.610 --> 00:48:33.579
they're not hampered by the thumb. Everything's about those two
1076
00:48:33.639 --> 00:48:35.159
fingers that spin the heck out of the ball and
1077
00:48:35.179 --> 00:48:36.239
give a tremendous reverie.
1078
00:48:36.280 --> 00:48:39.039
Well, plus your other hand can help spin it also.
1079
00:48:39.059 --> 00:48:39.619
Is that correct?
1080
00:48:40.119 --> 00:48:42.619
No, the other hand is just there for support. They
1081
00:48:42.639 --> 00:48:45.019
don't use that because, you know, when you're releasing the ball,
1082
00:48:45.059 --> 00:48:47.360
the other hand comes off. You just use the other
1083
00:48:47.380 --> 00:48:49.659
hand to get you to that release point. Then the
1084
00:48:49.699 --> 00:48:50.550
fingers do everything.
1085
00:48:51.030 --> 00:48:53.489
So how about this? Because I just invented a version
1086
00:48:53.510 --> 00:48:58.030
of bowling in my head, which is you take the
1087
00:48:58.130 --> 00:49:03.250
hardest shots and you rank which shots are most difficult.
1088
00:49:03.869 --> 00:49:07.860
And then the pin configuration, you can choose to get
1089
00:49:08.019 --> 00:49:10.820
the most points. So of course, the 710 would be
1090
00:49:10.889 --> 00:49:11.719
worth the most.
1091
00:49:12.550 --> 00:49:12.869
And the.
1092
00:49:15.150 --> 00:49:19.070
One pin by itself would be worth the least. And
1093
00:49:19.090 --> 00:49:23.039
then you can figure out these configurations, and then you
1094
00:49:23.199 --> 00:49:27.239
get to actually choose which ones you will try in
1095
00:49:27.360 --> 00:49:29.780
order to score more points.
1096
00:49:30.019 --> 00:49:30.500
Interesting.
1097
00:49:30.820 --> 00:49:32.590
I like it. I like it.
1098
00:49:32.780 --> 00:49:36.260
Yeah. So basically, each setup has a different difficulty level. Yes.
1099
00:49:36.820 --> 00:49:37.360
Thank you.
1100
00:49:37.380 --> 00:49:39.929
Thank you. And if you get behind the game, you
1101
00:49:39.969 --> 00:49:42.289
can take on the more challenging path. Right.
1102
00:49:42.489 --> 00:49:46.989
Right. So you can always come back and win depending
1103
00:49:47.130 --> 00:49:52.159
on which level of difficulty you choose to roll your ball.
1104
00:49:52.599 --> 00:49:53.599
I'm going to give you a little credit for that.
1105
00:49:53.619 --> 00:49:55.400
Even though you disrespected me earlier, Chuck, I'm going to
1106
00:49:55.420 --> 00:49:56.480
say I'm going to give you some credit. That's a
1107
00:49:56.480 --> 00:49:58.099
good idea, man. That is a good idea.
1108
00:49:58.909 --> 00:50:02.340
I think you've taken the sport in a new direction, Chuck.
1109
00:50:02.460 --> 00:50:05.800
Dr. Dave, it's great to have you back. And I'm
1110
00:50:05.840 --> 00:50:07.699
afraid to ask you what else you are a world's
1111
00:50:07.760 --> 00:50:11.019
expert in. Yeah. We might find that out on another invite.
1112
00:50:11.320 --> 00:50:12.460
Street dice is next.
1113
00:50:12.940 --> 00:50:16.579
Street dice. Chuck and Gary, always good to have you, man.
1114
00:50:17.099 --> 00:50:17.460
Always good.
1115
00:50:17.480 --> 00:50:17.679
It is.
1116
00:50:17.719 --> 00:50:22.400
Thank you. So that's a wrap on our StarTalk Sports Edition. Bowling.
1117
00:50:23.260 --> 00:50:29.550
How to be an expert. Know some physics. That's the
1118
00:50:29.590 --> 00:50:32.449
takeaway from this. Know some physics. All right. And have
1119
00:50:32.469 --> 00:50:34.179
a mom who used to work in a bowling alley.
1120
00:50:34.530 --> 00:50:38.260
Combine those two, you're a winner every time. Neil deGrasse
1121
00:50:38.300 --> 00:50:41.210
Tyson here, your personal astrophysicist. Keep looking up.